Android Authority newsletter

The best way to stay connected to the Android pulse. Our main newsletter is the Android Weekly which is sent every Sunday and contains all the top Android news, reviews and features from the past week.

100% Privacy, No Spam Policy: We value privacy and your email address will be 100% secure. We hate spam just like you do and will never send you too much email, nor will we ever share your information with anyone.

Your Android device is like a mini computer running on a Linux kernel. Ubuntu, which is also a flavor of Linux, is generally for desktop PCs, netbooks, and laptops. Since Ubuntu relies on the Linux kernel, is it possible to run Ubuntu on an Android device?

XDA Developers member tiborr answers that question by sharing a guide on how to setup and run Ubuntu on your Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300, which, because of its awesome quad-core power and more-than-enough storage, is capable of running Ubuntu.

Using the Ubuntu Installer app and his edited script, the said developer was able to run the computer-based Ubuntu on a Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300.

Quite a few find it a bit pointless to run a computer-based Linux distro on an Android phone, but we here at Android Authority I think it’s cool to be able to show it off to your geeky friends. Besides, it’s a showcase of the power of Linux and of opensource software in general.

If you want to run Ubuntu on your Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300, continue reading the rest of this guide. Take note that the following steps are not noob-friendly and may need some technical skills and knowledge about Android development.

Warning

The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the Samsung Galaxy S3, model number GT-I9300. Applying these instructions on another device or model may produce undesired outcomes.

The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.

Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.

Read and understand the whole guide first before actually performing the instructions.

Requirements

Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 with root access and running on a kernel that has loopback support

Users report that the CF Kernel does pack loopback support and works with the setup described in this guide. Other users also report that the setup works even on stock ROMs. If you don’t find this guide working for you, you might want to try installing a custom kernel on your phone.

Backup all personal data on your phone to make sure you have a copy of your personal data (e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and the like) in case the procedure in this guide erases such data.

Extract the downloaded Ubuntu image file. Move or copy the said file to /sdcard/ubuntu directory.

Move or copy tiborr’s ubuntu.sh script into the /sdcard/ubuntudirectory.

There should be an *.img file and a *.sh file inside the folder.

Open the Terminal Emulator app and enter the following commands:

su

cd /sdcard/ubuntu

sh ubuntu.sh

After a series of text, the terminal emulator will ask you to enter the screen size. Type 1280x720 and press Enter.

On the next screen, a message Save this as default? (y/n) will appear. Type the command Y if you want to save the screen size and N if you don’t want to save it as a default screen size. Your terminal emulator will then look like this:

The script my ask you to setup a password. For our purposes, you can just use ubuntu as password.

The terminal will act as an Ubuntu command line. To connect to the graphical user interface (GUI), launch the androidVNC app.

Enter localhost on the IP address text field.

For port number, specify 5900 as the port number.

Enter ubuntu as password.

Leave all other fields as they are.

Tap Connect. The GUI will render and you will see the familiar Ubuntu interface.

To exit, return to the Terminal Emulator session, type exit at the command line, and wait until everything shuts down.

Alternative Method

If the steps above don’t work or the script isn’t working, you can try the alternative steps below:

Android is arguably the most flexible mobile operating system. Period. I'm extremely passionate about helping Android users around world get the most out of their Android devices by writing how-to guides and tutorials.